QuestionQUESTION: Roland,I have a 1998 Sebring LXI 2.5L that recently gave me problems. I power washed the engine(which I did to replace a leaking valve cover and now wished I didn't) but after many hours of checking parts and systems, i am scratching my head...I have fuel pressure, I verified the PCM is pulsing the injectors, and i have momentary 12v power to auto shut down relay, but not while cranking. I have read from others that the hall effect pickup could be the culprit, I can hear the asd relay clicking while turning the engine over, but still no spark. what now?
Thanks in advance.
Ben Smith
ANSWER: Hi Benjamin,
If the asd relay is clicking then one possibility is that there is water in the relay socket, so check out that possibility. Do you mean momentary power 'to' the asd relay or 'from' the asd relay?
Pin 8 red/brown should have a steady 12v to the relay, and when the engine is cranking you should have a steady 12v out from the relay on the red/white wire.
There of course could also be water shorting out the cam sensor in the distributor or the crank sensor on the back side of the engine at the seam between it and the transmission, juat above the top of the trans housing. Try using the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave, doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the odometer window to see if the mileage reading changes to show any 4-digit numbers. Let me know. Also if that doesn't work, do the same thing and watch for flash, pause, flash of the check engine light.
Either sensor being flaky would cause the asd to to cut in and out.
I assume this is coupe model, correct?
Roland
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QUESTION: Roland,one more thing....this Sebring LXI, has analog speedo/tach with the old style odometer, and idiot lights. there were only three codes, multi cylinder misifre, misfire on cylinders 4 & 6. nothing else. One note, just before the car died, while it was running, cylinder 4 & 6 injectors were not firing, as if the injector was faulty, I checked the injector plugs with Noid lights, and the PCM was pulsing them, just acted as if they were "Dead" I was driving back to my home and got 1/4 mile away and she died and here I sit..... thanks for the help, this has me and my uncle both scratching our heads......
ANSWER: Hi Benjamin,
On the injectors, check to see if they have 12v on the other wire of the injector plug, while you are cranking the engine. If you have that and you have evidence of pulsing on the other wire's of those two injectors then you would have to conclude the injectors are bad if you don't sense them to be clicking. But just in case, check for spark on the sockets for the spark plugs of those two cylinders, also. Put a insulated handle screwdriver in the socket and then hold the socket/handle with the shaft of the driver 1/4" from the cylinder head while your partner cranks the engine. You might have bad wires or distributor cap/rotor.
Roland
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QUESTION: Roland, Checked for spark, that isn't happening at all. I used the noid lights on the plugs for the front injectors (2,4,6) and they light as they would if the PCM was pulsing them. where should I look next since I am not getting 12v from the single plug on the distributor while cranking the engine? I am going to get another distributor, and try that once more, from what I have read, these fail quite often and might well have been the reason the car I got this distributor off of was in there in the first place.... I swapped the relays and looked over each one to look for signs of water, but none was found, also, as I turned the distributor by hand, I could hear and feel the ASD relay clicking, fuel pump was running also. just no spark.
Thanks again for the help.
AnswerThe single plug of the distributor should show 12V while you are cranking, and intermittently show it when you are turning it by hand in synchrony with the ASD closing and opening. So that is probably ok, but verify you have steady 12v on the wire when cranking.
If you have that, then you should have spark UNLESS the spark coil in the distributor is not being 'driven' by the pcm which it should be if you are getting 12v on the single wire as that proves the pcm is getting signals from the crank and cam sensors so I would believe it is being driven OR the rotor is open, OR the Distributor cap is cracked/wet and shorting the spark to ground, OR the spark plug wires are bad and leaking spark to ground. So check the rotor and the cap and the wires (look in a dark environment for signs of arcing along the wires). I wouldn't give up on the distributor just yet.
Roland
